The Shadows in the Trees
by Nighty999
Summary: A short Rahne Sinclair one-shot, set in season two with a small cameo from Nightcrawler. It's a question on where she got the ability to morph into a wolf. Is she really a mutant? Is she even human?


_This is a Rahne Sinclair one-shot, with a cameo by Nightcrawler, about the things that run around in the Institute forest at night. It goes into the maybes of what her mutant power means. Maybe I'll continue with a little more if it's well received. _

Rahne Sinclair knew what she was getting into when she shifted into full wolf form and leaped into the darkness of the trees. The forest on the grounds was completely off limits, and no one in the school but Logan and the Professor knew why. She had watched the wolf run into the forest at top speed, running after a rabbit that had darted across the lawn. She had smelled the human on the creature.

She had to know.

Sniffing for the wolf, she caught his scent on the wind blowing gently through the leaves. It was too dark to see much, even with her canine eyes. She carefully pawed her way through the foliage, wondering why this particular forest was such a big deal. She lifted her nose to the air and took in the sweet smells of the natural world.

As she stepped into a moonlit clearing, she stopped. Suddenly she couldn't smell anything. Panic overtook her, sniffing frantically, but to no avail. Just a few moments ago she had smelled something strange and familiar, and she hoped it was someone she knew, come to rescue her. Without her sense of smell, there was no way she could find her way back.

She sat, whining as her ears flattened. She didn't know what else to do. She felt helpless and alone without her nose to guide her through this unknown territory.

The snap of the twig caused her ears to shoot upward. Something, something large, was headed her way. Not knowing what to do, she stood up and barked. The creature grew closer and she stepped back, barking her warning again.

She was surprised to see a horse step out of the trees, and as she looked up, she inwardly gasped. This wasn't a horse in the least, only the body of one, with the torso and head of a human man of around forty. He held a bow in his right hand, an arrow in his left, and spotted her. Her ears fell back as she took a step away from the centaur creature.

"Another wolf in our territory," he said, loading the bow. "I cannot believe the nerve of these insolent creatures. They think they own the forest."

She shook her head to clear it. The thing had not spoken English, but somehow she had understood every word. In a desperate attempt to communicate, though she knew she could not speak in this form, she barked again.

This time, however, words that were strange to her mind and tongue erupted from her. "I don't live in these woods," she shouted in the strange language. "I'm lost."

"How do I know you are not lying, freakish thing of the night?" The centaur asked, lowering the bow only slightly.

"Please, my name is Rahne, I live in the house near here," she said quickly, still trying to figure out where she had learned this language.

"Too bad I do not listen to the babble of wolves," he said, raising the bow and aiming, almost too quick for her to see.

Before she could react, the wolf she had seen earlier leaped from the undergrowth behind her and stepped in front of Rahne. He spoke in the same language the centaur had.

"I apologize, Burad," he said, a faint growl in his voice as his upper lip curled. "This is a pup from my pack who has lost her way. We will leave centaur territory immediately."

"You had best go quickly," the Centaur warned. "Before I change my mind."

"Come, pup," he ordered Rahne, and ran back the way he had come, deeper into the forest. She uncertainly followed, watching the centaur warily.

"Whose pack are you from?" he asked her as they stopped in a shady clearing. "Where is your mother?"

"I don't understand," she said. "I don't come from a pack. I'm human."

"You are lycanthrope," he said. "A Were-creature. A Night-thing like me."

"I am not," she cried. "I live in the mansion up that way. I eat human food and sleep in beds. Please, believe me."

"Ronnie?" A voice called from a tree top. Nightcrawler landed softly on his feet when he jumped down, between the wolf and Rahne. "Vhat are you doing vay out here?"

"What are _you _doing way out here?" she answered in the strange language, and he stepped back.

"How do I know that language?" Kurt asked, startled.

"You are friends with a Hellion?" the wolf said, growling at Kurt.

"What's a Hellion?" Rahne asked, looking at Kurt and whining. "Is he a Hellion?"

"Another Night-thing. He must leave at once before lady Yue finds him here."

"How is this wolf talking?" Kurt said loudly. "And how are you talking? And how am I speaking this language?"

"And what's a Night-thing?"

"Go, quickly, back the way you came," he insisted. "You are Hellion. You can teleport, yes?"

"Yes," Kurt nodded, confused.

"Then take this pup and leave at once."

Kurt looked at Rahne, and she stared back at him, both thoroughly shaken and confused by these events. Kurt touched Rahne and the two appeared back on the front porch. Rahne shifted into her human form and shivered.

"What was all that back there?" She said, speaking in English.

"I don't know. I think ve should go to bed before ve are caught."

She nodded and hugged herself as he walked into the house. Looking back at the trees, she began to wonder if she was who she thought she was.


End file.
